The Influential Leader Enlarges People

By Mark Bowser

“See the person you want to mentor as they can become,
not as they currently are.”
Mark Bowser

“Mentoring is pouring your life into other people
and helping them reach their potential.”
John C. Maxwell & Jim Dornan
(Authors, Becoming A Person of Influence)


“Lead them step by step to the person they can become.”
Mark Bowser


Once you know an individual’s strengths, the next step is to enlarge them. Enlarging people is mentoring them. There are four steps to the successful enlarging/mentoring process.

How to Enlarge People

One, give them access to a training library. A training library is having access to personal development books, audio, video, DVD programs. Encourage them to become readers. Research shows that if we all commit to reading one book a month in whatever area we choose to develop ourselves in, that in five years, we will be in the top 5% of experts in that area in the world. That is powerful, but it also shows how few people take action on this. So, what kind of time commitment are we talking about for the average reader to read one book a month? About 15-30 minutes a day. That’s it. A small discipline that can lead to your success. Go to the website address below to Executive Books where you will find a listing of great books that you can purchase. http://toolscart.com/comersus6f/store/affiliates/standard_default.asp

Research also shows the value of listening to audio programs. For example, I think it was the University of Southern California who discovered that if we live in a metropolitan area, that in our commute to work we could gain incredible knowledge by listening to audio programs. They found out that we could gain the knowledge of a college associates program in three short years just by listening to audio programs during our commute. Incredible! For a listing of great audio programs you can purchase, then visit my websites at www.MarkBowser.com and www.TakeActionSales.com.

Two, open them up to new growing experiences. A growing experience can be just about anything. It can be being a member of a committee, a project team, or attending a training seminar. Growing experiences not only help us improve, they help motivate us too.

Three, challenge them to success. This means stretching your team member outside their comfort zone. There is no real growth without stretching. Just like an athlete who stretches before competition, stretching outside our comfort zone prepares us for future and greater success. One caution: don’t over stretch your team member. In other words, stretch them outside their comfort zone but not too far outside their comfort zone. Just like a baby doesn’t go from crawling to running, we must let them walk before they run.

Four, set them up to succeed. Remember, success breeds more success! Our job as leaders is to provide our team members with everything they need to succeed. If that is training, then give them training. If that is resources, then give them resources. If that is help and support, then give them help and support.

Believing in and Enlarging your team members is a prerequisite for your team’s success. Do this and you are virtually guaranteed success.